THE TRUMP-PENCE ADMINISTRATION CRUELLY DECIDES TO END DACA: “This is yet another hateful decision by the Trump-Pence Administration,” said Alejandro Avilés, HRC’s Director of Outreach and Engagement, in response to the administration’s announcement yesterday it will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “A White House that has pardoned human rights violators like Joe Arpaio and espoused racism and white nationalism has now decided that hundreds of thousands of young people -- many of whom have never known a home outside the U.S. -- are no longer welcome here. Students, with bright futures ahead of them, ready to help make our country truly great, will be sent back to places they don’t remember, breaking families apart and setting our country back immeasurably.” The five-year-old program has allowed hundreds of thousands of young people who were brought to the U.S. as minors to stay in the country, to continue their studies and to continue making positive contributions to our nation. It is estimated that approximately 75,000 of these “Dreamers” are LGBTQ, and HRC has endorsed the 2017 DREAM Act to explicitly authorize the government to stop the deportation of Dreamers. More from HRC, the Washington Blade and Advocate.

NASHVILLE STATEMENT BY TRUMP’S EVANGELICAL SUPPORTERS IS “DEADLY THEOLOGY”: Writing in AL.com, HRC Alabama State Director Eva Kendrick said this about the dangers of the ugly anti-LGBTQ manifesto: “I am the daughter, granddaughter, niece and relative of more than ten evangelical Baptist and Methodist ministers in Alabama and Georgia. As a part of my work to achieve full legal equality for LGBTQ Alabamians, I prioritize the value of dialogue and conciliation above drawing hard lines, particularly related to theological differences. But there is no room to do that with this week's ‘Nashville Statement.’ It is deadly theology.” More from AL.com.

WHAT WE’RE READING WEDNESDAY: HRC's thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. We will stand with Texas and the entire region in the days, weeks and months ahead. While we’ve watched the destruction unfold, we’ve also witnessed fellow Americans step up and show the true character of our country. The Montrose LGBTQ Center in Houston has been helping the local LGBTQ community, and has dedicate itself to increasing its resources and outreach in the wake of Harvey. More from BuzzFeed.

U.S. SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CASE INVOLVING ANTI-LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION: In June, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a case involving a baker who in 2012 refused to provide a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Last year, the Colorado Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the Colorado Court of Appeals that bakery owner Jack Phillips cannot cite religious beliefs or free speech in order to discriminate against same-sex couples. Get in-depth background on this case from CNN.

INDIANA APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS ANTI-TRANSGENDER LAW: The law had required those seeking to change their name to issue a ‘public notice’ in most cases -- often forcing transgender people to publicly out themselves, which could put them at risk of discrimination, harassment or violence. More from LGBTQ Nation.

HRC MOURNS KASHMIRE NAZIER REDD, TRANS MAN KILLED IN GATES, N.Y.: HRC mourns the tragic loss of Kashmire Nazier Redd, a 28-year-old transgender man who was fatally stabbed by his partner on Monday morning. Democrat & Chroniclereported that Redd’s partner stabbed him several times during an argument inside their shared apartment in Gates, New York. A friend wrote on Facebook “[Kashmire] loved hard and just wanted to be loved and [accepted].” This tragedy is the latest reminder that the transgender community is disproportionately represented in domestic violence cases across the country, and more must be done to support those experiencing intimate partner violence. More from HRC.

WELLESLEY COLLEGE AND SPELMAN COLLEGE JOINS OTHER ALL-WOMEN SCHOOLS IN ACCEPTING TRANSGENDER WOMEN: Ninotska Love will be one of the first openly transgender women to attend Wellesley, following the college’s decision to change admission rules to explicitly allow transgender women to attend. Spelman College president Mary Schmidt Campbell announced the college would begin accepting transgender women next year. Other all-women colleges that accept transgender women are Mills, Smith, Bryn Mawr and Barnard. More from The Associated Press and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

HRC MOURNS RODNEY LYLE BRAGG, NASHVILLE LGBTQ ADVOCATE: Rodney worked within the Nashville faith community to advocate for LGBTQ rights within the church and beyond. More from Out and About Nashville.

BACK TO SCHOOL Q&A WITH EXPERT FROM NATIONAL PRINCIPALS’ ASSOCIATION: As part of our Back to School campaign to support LGBTQ students and their families, we spoke with Dr. Beverly J. Hutton, Deputy Executive Director of Programs and Services at the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) to learn more about how their organization supports LGBTQ youth. More from HRC.

The country’s Ministry of Equality also announced it will soon give free access to transition-related health care. More from Times of Malta.

SHAME -- ROMANIAN POLITICIANS SEEK TO BAN MARRIAGE EQUALITY BY REFERENDUM: The ruling Social Democratic Party is pushing forward with the plan after an anti-LGBTQ organization collected 3 million petition signatures calling for a constitutional ban on marriage equality. More from Sofia News Agency and Gay Times.

MEET THE PLAINTIFF WHO HELPED OVERTURN BELIZE’S ANTI-LGBTQ LAW: Last year, the highest court in Belize issued a decision that declared unconstitutional a law criminalizing male same-sex sexual activity, and ordered it to be amended. Orozco, an HRC Global Innovator, wrote about his role in overturning the discriminatory law for HRC and The Daily Beast.

READING RAINBOW

Reuters shares the experiences and struggles of a gay man in Zimbabwe; Salon speaks to a soldier who served during the days of “Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell”; ThinkProgress asks why students aren’t learning more LGBTQ history in schools

Have news? Send us your news and tips at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!